Tulsa County expands office/court space

By Staff Report

County Commissioners voted Monday to purchase the Community Care Building at 218 W. 6th Street. Officials have been in discussions and negotiations with the owner, Ascension, for several months.

After due diligence and study, county officials and Ascension agreed to a $11.5 million sale price with a donation of furniture, fixtures and equipment from Ascension.

The 185,000 square-foot building is located just south east of the Tulsa County Courthouse Complex. After some modifications, the building will become the headquarters of Tulsa County Government, opening up needed space at the courthouse.

“This purchase will help us solve two major issues. We have a real need for space in the courthouse, for courts, jurors, court services and court holding for the Sheriff’s Office,” said Commissioner Ron Peters. “We also have a lot of parking pressure as we typically have a waiting list for employee parking, and parking for our customers is not user-friendly.”

The Community Care Building has a 400-space parking structure and almost 100 surface parking spaces. The building was built in 1958, and was purchased by St. John in 1996 as the headquarters for Community Care.

The transaction is set to close before the end of the year. Tulsa County will begin work on the modifications in January.

County officials plan to consolidate all county administration offices in the building, including all offices that are currently in the Ray Jordan Administration Building at 6th and Denver, the Crowson Annex at 3rd and Houston, and the Tulsa County Parks office at 2300 Charles Page Blvd.

“This is a real game-changer for us. We’ve been battling space and parking problems for years. With this building as our new headquarters, we will be in a better position to serve the citizens of Tulsa County,” said Peters.